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Class _LE)_Uio£t 

Book .Me-^ 

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK ■ BOSTON • CHICAGO DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA. Ltd. 

TORONTO 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



BY 



/ JANE W. McKEE 

INSTRUCTOR IN KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

CHARLES W. COOPER 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1922 

All rights reserved 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 






Copyright, 1922, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1922. 



Nortoooti Prf0!S 

J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



AUG -9 "22 

©CI.A681307 



MY HUSBAND 

AND 

MY LITTLE DAUGHTER 



PREFACE 

It is my hope that this little manual will be re- 
garded by the lay teacher as a compilation of sug- 
gestions, and not as an extensive study, or final 
treatise on handwork. As society evolves, education 
must change to keep apace with it, so may this text 
serve as a waypost, not a goal. 

It was not my intention, originally, to write a 
book ; the need developed and I met it as I could. 
The content of these few pages is the result of 
eight years of work, including experimental kinder- 
garten and first grade teaching, physical education 
supervision in the elementary school, and Normal 
Training School instructing. 

I do not claim it to be original. It is a compila- 
tion of suggestions and ideas which have come to 
me from my own little daughter, from the children 
whom it has been my good fortune to teach in 
public schools, from Normal School students, from 
observation of daily life, and from individual study. 

The projects described have been worked out in 
an average one-teacher, one-room public school 
kindergarten or first grade of mixed population. 



viii PREFACE 

I am deeply indebted to the many instructors 
and co-workers who, with their inspiration and guid- 
ance, have blazed the educational trail for me. 
Special acknowledgments are due to Caroline Craw- 
ford McLean of Teachers College, Columbia Uni- 
versity, who awakened in me an appreciation of 
childhood, with all its fullness and joy ; to Gudron 
Thorne-Thomsen of the Francis Parker School in 
Chicago, who taught me to appreciate the art of 
simplicity, the means of gaining the genuine con- 
fidence of the child ; to Patty Smith Hill of Teach- 
ers College, Columbia University, who has stood 
out as the leader in freeing kindergarten education 
from its traditional swaddling clothes ; to my 
beloved supervisor in training school, Mary King 
Drew, who gave me an appreciation of organization 
and method ; and to Clark W. Hetherington, former 
State Supervisor of Physical Education in Califor- 
nia, who gave me an understanding of the psy- 
chology of play, and since play is inseparable from 
childhood, a functioning psychology of childhood. 

Jane W. McKee. 



CONTENTS 



I. The Psychology of Handwork 

II. Purposeful Handwork . 

III. Handwork of Play Value 

IV. Handwork of Utility Value . 
V. Handwork of Art Value 

VI. Supplies and Accommodations 



PAGE 

I 

6 

13 

79 

99 

102 



Index — Problems and Projects Listed Al- 
phabetically 107 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate I. Folded Airplane 
Plate 2. Wooden Airplane . 
Aviation Helmet and Goggles 
Plate 3. Aviation Helmet . 
Plate 4. Blow-out 
Blow-out .... 
Baseball Mitt 

Coat-hanger Bow and Arrow 
Plate 5. Boomerang 
Plate 6. Boy's Cap 
Group Illustration 

1. Shoe-box Circus Wagon, II 

2. Circus Clown 

3. Shoe-box Circus Wagon, I 
Cradle 



PAGE 
14 
15 
16 

17 
19 
20 
20 
21 
23 
25 
26 



27 



Shoe-box Doll Buggy 27 

Box Doll Buggy 28 

Wrapping-paper Doll 28 

Plate 7. Doll Hat 29 

Rag Doll 30 

Plate 8. Paper Doll 31 

Drum 32 

Doll House ^^ 

Paper Dress 34 



Engine .... 
Plate 9. Fireman's Hat, 
Group Illustration 

1. Fireman's Hat, II. 

2. Fireman's Hat, I, 



35 
36 
37 



Xll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate lo. Fireman's Hat, II 

Low Bench with Vises 

Box Furniture 

Ring-toss Game 

Giant Game . 

Popgun (Open) 

Popgun (Closed) 

Plate II. Aviation Goggles 

Plate 12. Popgun 

Pattern for Hat . 

Hat (Trimmed) . 

Children Wearing Paper Hats 

Plate 13. Hat 

Jumping Jack 

Plate 14. Jumping Jack 

Kite .... 

Shopping Bag 

Plate 15. Knitting Bag 

Plate 16. Parrot Toy . 

Plate 17. Railroad Signal 

Rug and Loom 

Signal Flag . 

Sewing Basket 

Plate 18. Spool Doll . 

Soldiers 

Plate 19. Spectrum Twirler 

Plate 20. Japanese Slippers 

Soldier's Overseas Hat . 

Plate 21. Sunbonnet . 

Plate 22. Sailor Tam o' Shanter 

Plate 23. Sailor Hat 

Plate 24. Soldier Hat 

Plate 25. Soldier's Overseas Hat 

Soldier's Leggings 

Plate 26. Soldier's Leggings 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Xlll 



Plate 27. Train . 

Plate 28. Tree . 

Plate 29. Indian Tom-tom . 

Wheelbarrow 

Plate 30. Wheelbarrow 

Cloth Apron 

Plate 31. Constructed Apron 

Child Wearing Cloth Apron . 

Group Illustration 

1. Cot without cover 

2. Cot with cover 
Plate 32. Cot 
Candlestick and Shade . 
Plate :^:^. Candle . 
Plate 34. Cup 
Plate 35. Crumb Tray and Scraper 
Churn .... 
Flower Pot and Plant . 
Fly Swatter . 
Plate 36. Hearth Broom 
Pan Holder . 
Paper Plates 
Child Drawing at Easel with Crayon 
Supply Box on Casters 



73 
75 
76 

77 
78 
79 
80 
81 
84 



85 
86 

87 
88 
90 

91 
92 
92 
93 
94 
96 
100 
104 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

CHAPTER I 
The Psychology or Handwork 

In order that I may set forth my findings in the 
field of purposeful handwork, it will be necessary for 
the reader to traverse rapidly with me the first 
psychological stage in the process of manual activ- 
ity ; namely, manipulation. 

My conclusions in the matter of manipulation are 
the results of experimental studies with numerous 
children in the elementary school, and particularly 
with those between the ages of four and seven years. 

In reviewing the records of my own daughter's 
early experiences I was confronted with the fact 
that with every new experience, physical and in- 
tellectual, she first went through a testing period of 
spontaneous, motiveless movements which finally 
brought the acts consciously before her, clarifying 
her mental images and coordinating her muscular 
activities. With each new situation the length of 
the manipulation period varied in proportion to 
its relation to past experiences. 



2 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

I took this conception of the importance of manip- 
ulation into the kindergarten with me and there I 
set the children free in self-organized activities. I 
found manipulation to be a never absent antecedent 
of every new experience they went through. Accord- 
ing to Norsworthy and Whitley, in The Psychology 
of Childhood, the fact ^^that the field of energy fur- 
nished by this instinct as well as the possibilities 
offered should have been practically ignored in our 
schools for so many years seems almost incredible." 

I observed manipulation to be an individual un- 
foldment on the child's part, for no teacher is wise 
enough to tell how long it will take these crude, 
unconscious twistings, turnings, pullings, pushings, 
scribblings, snippings, pokings, cuttings, and daub- 
ings, to develop into conscious usable activity. 
There is but one person who appreciates when the 
transition from the manipulation to the problem 
stage takes place ; and this is not the teacher, but 
the child himself who, although he does not con- 
sciously know, yet registers his progress through 
his choices and actions, provided we give him half 
a chance freely to make choices and to carry 
them out. 

Granting that manipulation is as legitimate a phase 
of development as the problem or project phase, 
shall we permit the child, in developing his powers 
of manipulation, to ruin expensive materials by 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HANDWORK 3 

wasteful hacking into them? If the teacher is to 
be ehminated, the result will be disorder and reckless 
waste, and abuse of equipment and materials. We 
can never eliminate the teacher from an educational 
situation. She is the selective agent. She directs the 
manipulating child to materials that best fit his 
need ; as, remnants of goods, misfit lumber, odd 
papers, etc. Do not misunderstand me ; I do not ad- 
vocate supplying the manipulating child with old 
waste materials. His materials should be just as 
good and as clean and attractive as the problem or 
project supplies of a later period ; but they may often 
be the incorrect cuts and trimmings from such supplies. 

This psychology of manipulation opened up the 
natural sequence of the kindergarten-primary cur- 
riculum to me. In the past we have omitted initial 
manipulation. It has been ignored because it 
seemed, to the untaught, wasteful and its results 
ugly. We have preferred to recognize the second 
or problem stage as the first because its results 
^' showed off " to better advantage, because it made 
good school advertising. 

As selective agent, the teacher watches and re- 
cords the natural selections, introduces materials 
best fitting the child's needs as they arise, builds up 
situations that will satisfy these crude yearnings, 
supervises the exercises, removes the situations 
when they climax — thus avoiding disorder — pre- 



4 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

vents overstimulation in environment by simplifying 
the surroundings, listens to the child's suggestions, 
and follows his lead. 

As the children grow through manipulation, as 
their images clarify and their muscles coordinate, 
those with similar tastes and skills form into sep- 
arate groups. In these simple, self-organized groups 
the first little lessons are born ; the first small prob- 
lems, whose ends are immediate, are suggested ; as, 
to cut on the line, sew a seam, or tie a knot ; and 
the first simple patterns are displayed. This is the 
second, or problem stage. Must the children follow 
the patterns suggested? No, not if they have a 
plan of their own. Never, if they themselves have 
another legitimate interest, socially valuable, in 
relation to which they can work. 

In the problem stage the child's mind has been 
freed from the all-absorbing manipulation, through 
the development of habits of thought and action. 
He is free to think something beyond consciousness 
of skill and process, so he thinks ends, and means 
of attaining the ends set up. Thus is the conscious 
problem estabKshed. 

As the child gains skill in working with problems 
which are simple plots, he combines plots, inter- 
weaves them, and works them into what we term 
projects ; for example, a child models a clay flower- 
pot, paints and shellacs it, and brushes the inside 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HANDWORK 5 

with paraffin ; then he fills it with earth, plants a 
seed in it, waters and cares for it, and takes the 
plant home to his parents. 

In observing these self-directed activities I found 
the (Children in the problem and project stage to be 
engaged in three types of handwork : 

1. Making "play- toys." 

2. Making articles of utility. 

3. Decorating articles of utility and "play- 
toys." 

The pictures in this book are taken from the 
children's own work or from teachers' models of 
articles which children have made and carried home. 



CHAPTER II 

Purposeful Handwork 

Children are interested in real things, not in pat- 
terns or symbols of things. They are interested in 
investigating and originating ; in being a cause, and 
in causing an effect. ''Sheer imitation, dictation 
of steps to be taken, mechanical drill, may give re- 
sults most quickly and yet strengthen traits likely 
to be fatal to reflective power." (Dewey.) Then 
let us teach children real things, things that function 
now, not at some future date. Let us help the child 
to live fully and efficiently in the "to-day." 

Among the traditional customs of the formal 
kindergarten is its use of such expensive made-to- 
order materials as coated paper, folding paper, cut- 
ting paper, chain paper, weaving mats, sewing cards, 
weaving needles, etc. Cases on record show the 
failure of such materials to carry the kindergarten- 
primary lessons into demonstration in the home. 
Twenty hours out of the twenty-four the kinder- 
garten-primary child is in and about the home. Let 
us, in that four hours allotted the school, pre- 
pare him to enjoy and invest properly the twenty 

6 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 7 

hours spent at home. How can we do this? By 
introducing into the school the materials used in the 
equipment of the home, and by dignifying and hon- 
oring them. And what are these home materials? 
Roughly speaking — dolls, clothes, furniture, wash- 
tubs, ironing board, flatiron, broom, wood, tools, 
paint, wrapping paper, paper bags, string, spools, 
milk-bottle tops, tin cans, cardboard boxes, cloth, 
berry boxes, pins, buttonmolds, coat hangers, etc. 
Let us teach thrift by showing the child how mate- 
rials commonly wasted about the home may be con- 
verted into attractive, useful articles, and let us give 
him at school the inspiration, the idea, and the op- 
portunity of doing this ; then we shall note with joy 
the functioning of our lessons in his life out of school 
as well as in. 

As the situation is to-day, the warehouses are not 
prepared to fill our requisitions for supplies for 
purposeful handwork. The keepers of school sup- 
plies are at a loss when we ask for buttonmolds^ 
paper bags, milk-bottle tops, collar buttons, dyes, 
cloth, and wood. How then are we to obtain these 
supplies that at the present do not come through the 
estabhshed channels of requisition? Until the need 
for the cruder home materials has been recognized 
through the keeping of records and through exhibits 
of purposeful handwork, we must turn to the child 
himself for the solution of our common problem of 



8 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

limitation. He is at once eager to cooperate when 
we give the first hint that such contributions are 
needed and will be gratefully accepted. Through 
this medium of exchange, bonds are strengthened 
between home and school, drawing the two into inter- 
dependent relationship, with the child as inter- 
mediary. The mother will be quite as happy to see 
her child leave home, a veritable Santa Claus, with 
his pack on his back filled with empty cereal boxes, 
coffee cans, milk-bottle tops, and paper bags, as 
the teacher will be to greet her source of project sup- 
plies. The inherent possibilities of the crude ma- 
terials he is carrying will have ample time to suggest 
and unfold themselves in the child's constructive 
imagination with each step he takes in the direction 
of the "school-shop," where his treasures will be 
valued and transformed, as by fairy art, into attrac- 
tive toys and useful articles. 

With the crude material at school, our next problem 
is. What is the method to be employed in its trans- 
formation ? If our aim is to follow with wisdom the 
trend of the times in stimulating originaKty and 
resource on the part of the child, this sentence from 
The Psychology of Childhood by Norsworthy and 
Whitley comes to us with a message: '^ Originality 
of performance follows a variety of experiences and 
an increase of technique, and it should not be required 
until many concrete examples have been presented." 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 9 

Before the days of project teaching, when we spoke 
of methods we referred to dictation, imitation, and 
suggestion. To-day these same methods function in 
teaching a child, but only after the project has been 
launched. The methods used in launching the proj- 
ect may be listed as follows : 

1. Arrange a table attractively and suggestively 
with units of supply material distributed about in an 
orderly fashion. These may be miscellaneous boxes, 
milk-bottle tops, paper fasteners, string, paper, and 
scissors. The child is privileged to use any or all of 
this material in experiment. He may work out for 
himself a wagon, an automobile, a piano, an air- 
plane, a doll's bed. At first no models are pre- 
sented, but as the children work the teacher calls 
attention to various good combinations or patterns. 
She aims to lift the child's responses and to hold him 
to his best work. 

2. The second method is that of presenting simple, 
well-worked-out models for the children to examine, 
test out, and imitate as they choose, at the same time 
exposing units of material for their construction. 
When the child is in possession of a mental vo- 
cabulary of images which he has translated into 
concrete articles he is then in a position to work out 
original designs and offer individual changes and 
elaborations. Once the child's purpose is clear, his 
interest in it is the driving force which impels him 



lO PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

to deviate from patterns and experiment with the 
type models. His purpose developed, he forges ahead 
on his own initiative, elaborating and enlarging upon 
his idea as it unfolds and takes form. With this in- 
dividualizing of a basic unit comes the birth of new 
ideas and models. During this process of develop- 
ing his model, the child may stumble many times 
and need some aid and much encouragement from 
the teacher. As a group working over similar proj- 
ects reaches a stumbling block or limit of ability, 
the teacher steps in and gives a group lesson. This 
lesson, therefore, comes at a time when it applies to 
an immediate problem, and when it is capable of 
being understood and can be immediately acted 
upon. 

3. Often just the description of possible projects, 
or pictures, or articles that can be imitated in min- 
iature, is all that is necessary to set the ingenuity of 
the child to work on his own invention. When this 
is the case the less the teacher offers of suggestion 
the better. 

Personally I have obtained the best results from 
the use of methods 2 and 3, although many teachers 
use the first method exclusively. 

Ask yourself if you are still clinging to the old the- 
ory that the child is a being to be prepared for living 
in some future period which he may never reach. 
Then remember, in case you have forgotten it, that 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK ii 

he is living now. "We must take the child as a 
member of society in the broadest sense, and demand 
for and from the school whatever is necessary to en- 
able the child intelligently to recognize all his social 
relations and take his part in sustaining them." 
(Dewey.) It is as important to be a child as to be 
an adult, and it is the duty of the school to aid the 
child, through giving him ample opportunity to make 
and abide by wise choices, and to live in the present 
to the fullest and best extent. Let us discriminate 
between instruction the results of which remain 
within the four walls of the schoolroom and that 
which functions in aiding the child in complete 
living outside of the schoolroom. 

When I dropped the "pre-program," planned by 
week or month in advance, and adopted the ''post- 
program," a summary of the children's choices, 
project handwork took the place of what in the 
past had been teacher-imposed occupation on a 
miniature representative and pictorial plan. The 
children, feeling the spirit of the laboratory method, 
brought their broken dolls, scooters, engines, jumping- 
jacks, and books to the kindergarten workshop to 
be mended and repaired. This work of rejuvenat- 
ing toys from the home helped to bridge the gap be- 
tween home and school and to strengthen the bonds of 
sympathy, and gave the child a greater sense of pride 
in his possessions, and of desire to care for them. So 



12 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

we made toys at kindergarten, real toys, toys we 
could take home and play with. 

Clarifying my aims I sought for practical ideas 
that would utiHze the materials of the home, have 
''do with" quahties, and be simple. From the 
children themselves I received most of my sugges- 
tions. 



CHAPTER III 
Handwork of Play Value 

The following comprises my list of '' play-toys.'^ 
Any kindergarten or primary problem-project pupil 
can make them out of materials which he can find 
in his home. 

1. Folded Airplane. — Use a piece of paper 6 
inches by 9 inches, or of equal proportion, and fold 
it lengthwise, as in Plate i. Figure II, B to C. Fold 
edge B to F' along crease BC. Fold edge BF along 
crease BC. Fold BA' along BC. Fold BA along 
BC. Turn the sheet over on the other side. Fold 
BD' along BC. Fold BD along BC. Turn the 
sheet over. Fold BE' along BE. Lift up the wings 
and place a paper fastener through P to hold the 
construction in place. (See Figure IV.) The air- 
plane may then be decorated. 

2. Wooden Airplane. — Use a piece of soft 
wood (basswood or red wood) approximately 20 
inches long, i inch thick, and 2 inches wide. (See 
Plate 2, Figure I, ^4 .) The upper front wing is about 
I foot long and the under front wing is about 10 inches 
long. Wooden pins are nailed in place between the 

13 



14 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate i 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



IS 




Plate 2 



i6 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



wings to hold them apart. (Figure II.) The back 
wing is the same size as the under front wing. A tin 
can is nailed to board A just behind the front wing. 
A long nail with a milk-bottle top at the end is used 
for the steering wheel. A wooden seat is nailed to 
board A behind the wheel. Typewriter ribbon 
rolls, kodak rolls, or buttonmolds may be used for 
wheels. (See B and C, Figure I.) The propeller is 
a pin wheel made of paper, fastened to the front of 
board A. (See Figure III, for making pinwheel.) 
Stiff cardboard may be used for the wings in place 
of wood. 

3. Clothespin Airplane. — Force a 6-inch stick 
(pencil size) into the groove of an old-fashioned 
clothespin. Glue stiff pieces of paper 3 inches square 
on both ends of the stick for wings. Tie a string to 

the head of the clothes- 
pin. The child holds 
the string and runs. 

4. Aviation Helmet. 
— Use a paper bag 
large enough to fit the 
child's head. Open it 
up, and cut out the 
front face as in Plate 3, 
Figure I. Turn it over 
and cut out the back piece as shown in Figure II. 
These two side flaps go over the ears and hang down 




Aviation Helmet and Goggles 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



17 




Plate 3 



i8 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

to the shoulders. Figure I shows the front of the 
helmet. Bind the cut sides with strips of wrapping 
paper i inch wide sewed with colored yarn. 

5. Paper-bag Ball. — Blow up or stuff with rags 
or paper snips a paper bag. Tie firmly, and decorate 
with brilliant paints (show-card colors) . This makes 
an attractive ball for the youngest children to play 
with. 

6. Paper-bag Balloon. — Blow up a paper bag and 
tie it securely. Decorate. Attach wings of lighter 
weight paper to the sides. From the tied end drop 
three strings, each 4 inches long, and attach these to a 
small sixteen-fold box or sanitary milk-bottle cap. 
The balloon is thrown into the air, basket end first. 
An interesting problem is the experiment of placing 
stones of different weights in the basket. The weight 
of the stone determines the speed of the balloon's 
descent. 

7. Parachute. — Use a piece of cloth, handker- 
chief size. Work out stencil designs to be colored 
with paints or crayons in the center of the cloth. 
Tie a 6-inch string to each corner. Bring all the 
strings together at the end and tie them to a stick 
or stone. Throw it up into the air ; as it comes 
down it opens and sails. Experiment by varying 
the weight of the stick or stone. 

8. Blow-out. — Use a piece of light-weight wrap- 
ping paper 15 inches long and 6 inches wide. Fold 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



19 




Y 




rf^ 







11 



n 



m 



Plate 4 



20 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




in thirds, lengthwise, as in Plate 4, Figure I. Paste 

along the one side, forming a flattened 2 -inch paper 

tube I 5 inches 

long like that in 

Figure II. When 

the paste is dry, 

decorate this tube 

with paints or 

crayons. Glue 

a downy feather Blow-out 

(Figure VI) to one end of the tube as in Figure III, 

and fasten a i-inch piece of hollow bamboo (Figure V) 

to the other end for a mouthpiece. Roll it up as in 

Figure IV, and then blow it out. 

9. Bean Bag. — Cut a paper pattern for the child 
to use in getting the proper size and shape of material 

for making a bean bag. Use 
a heavy material. Sew the 
bag on three sides, turn it 
inside out and once more sew 
the three sides, using colored 
yarn this time. Partly fill the 
bag with beans and sew up 
the open side. The bag may 
then be decorated, using colored 
yarn, crayons, or paints. 

10. Baseball Mitt. — Use newspaper or wrapping 
paper. Draw an outline of the child's hand, in the 




Baseball Mitt 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 21 

shape of a mitt, leaving a i-inch margin and including 
the four fingers. Lay this pattern on four thicknesses 
of paper and cut out. Paste a strip of cloth one 
and one half inches wide around the edge and bind, 
or overwhip the edge with yarn. Place a layer of 
cotton on the inside for padding. 

11. Willow Bow and Arrow. — Use a piece of 
willow or light bamboo for the bow. Bend and tie 
the bow with a string. Cut an arrow from shingle 
wood, and feather the light end. 

12. Coat-hanger Bow and Arrow. — Use a large 
wooden coat hanger for the bow. Remove the 
hook and bore a hole | inch 
wide in the middle and in both 
ends. Stretch a piece of elastic 
J inch wide from the holes at 
either end. For the arrow, use 
a dowel stick 10 inches long and 
I inch in diameter with a round Coat-hanger bow and 
wooden bead wired to one end. 

Shoot the arrow through the center hole in the bow. 

13. Fluff Balls. — Make two cardboard circles, 
each 3 inches in diameter. Cut from the center of 
each a circle 2 inches in diameter and discard these 
2-inch centers. The two i-inch rims remaining are 
then placed together and wound full of yarn. Next 
the yarn is snipped along the circumference of these 
cardboard circles, thus exposing them. A piece of 




22 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

cord is forced down between these circles and tied 
firmly and then the circles are torn out. To the 
cord a string may be attached, from which the ball 
may be held and swung. The ball is finished by 
being fluffed into shape and clipped. 

14. Colored Balls. — Buy old tennis balls. Scrub 
them clean and dye them in bright colors. 

15. Boomerang. — Cross two thin paddle-shaped 
pieces of wood lo inches long and i inch wide, and 
secure them at the center. Whittle a depression on 
the right side of each paddle at the end. (See Plate 
5, Figures I, II, and III.) The boomerang is held by 
one of these paddles and thrown into the air with 
a downward cut. If cut on the right side, the boom- 
erang turns to the left and returns to the thrower. 
Experiment with placing the cuts on the left side 
also. 

16. Butterflies. — Make two large floppy paper 
butterflies and color them. Sew the butterflies 
together down the center, and attach them to the end 
of a slender branch or string. The string or branch 
is held by the child, and the wings flop and flutter 
as he runs with the toy. 

17. Motor Boat. — Use the lid of a cigar box. 
Cut a 2-inch square out of the center of one end. 
Saw the other end to a point. Make a wooden water 
wheel and fasten it in place in the center of the 
2-inch square cut at one end. Wind the wheel up 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



23 



[ 




1 V^ „.. ^ / 


• ^^^ — ^ 1 


J 


n 

1 


m 



Plate 5 



24 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

with a rubber band and put the boat into a tub of 
water and it will go. 

18. Sail Boat. — Take a block of wood, longer 
and wider than it is thick. Prepare a cardboard 
sail with a flap at the bottom to be folded at right 
angles. This flap is tacked to the board and enables 
the sail to stand erect and in place. Child may sail 
the boat in a tub of water. 

19. Boy's Cap. — Use a piece of heavy wrapping 
paper 2| inches wide and as long as the size of the 
child's head measure, plus enough to overlap so as to 
form a peak in the front. This is made into a band 
and pasted. (See Plate 6, Figures I and II.) 
Out of tissue paper, or light-weight wrapping 
paper, a crown is cut a little larger than the 
inside dimension of the headband. This crown is 
drawn over the band and pasted on the outside. 
(See Figure III.) 

20. Circus Clown. — Stuff the closed end of a paper 
bag and tie to form the clown's head ; then paint on 
a face. SpHt the remainder of the bag up the center 
as far as the head. Stuff these two parts for legs, 
paste down the inside seams, and tie the ends for 
feet. Decorate or dress in brilliant colors. 

21. Shoe-box Circus Wagon, I. — Put the box 
on four wheels and decorate it brilliantly. From 
the inside secure four cardboard posts extending 4 
inches above the sides of the box. Place the lid 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 25 




Plate 6 




26 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

of the box on top of these posts and trim with fluted 
papers of gay colors. Also decorate the wheels, 

posts, and top in 
the same way as 
the box. 

22. Shoe-box 
Circus Wagon, 
II. — Turn a 
^'^ ^''^ ^^^ shoe box upside 

1. Shoe-box Circus Wagon, II i i • 

2. Circus Clown QOWn, that IS, 

3. Shoe-box Circus Wagon, I ^.^^ ^^^ ^p^^ 

part down. Fasten on with paper fasteners four 
large wheels, made of cardboard. Paste silhouette 
animals on the sides of the box with bars represented. 
Decorate elaborately. 

23. Clothespin Doll. — Use an old-fashioned 
clothespin. Secure a bit of cotton under a cloth and 
tie it over the head of the clothespin for a head. 
Draw in the face and color it, using colored crayons 
for eyes, lips, and hair. Cut out of wrapping paper 
an underdress with arms and hands attached. Put 
this on the clothespin and tie it in the middle to 
form the waistline. Make a dress and bonnet of 
crepe paper and dress the doll in them. 

24. Cradle. — Use two chip baskets. Remove 
the handle, and nail one of the baskets on two coat 
hangers for rockers, the metal hooks having pre- 
viously been removed from the coat hangers. Cut 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



27 




Cradle 



the other basket in halves and fasten one half to an 

end of the cradle for the hood. Enamel the cradle 

in any color desired, and line it with cloth. The 

children may stencil a 

border design in pale 

pink and blue around 

the edge of a white 

cradle. They may 

also make mattress 

and pillows to fit, and 

hem the linen and 

tuft comforts for the 

cradles. 

25. Shoe-box Doll Buggy. — Put a large shoe box on 
four cardboard wheels. Cut the edge off the hd of the 

box and fasten this 
edge in place with 
paper fasteners to 
form the handle. 
Make a hood out of 
heavy wrapping pa- 
per and attach this 
with the same fast- 
eners that hold the 
handle. Decorate. 

26. Basket or Box Doll Buggy. — A practical doll 
buggy can be made in the same way as the chip 
basket cradle, with the addition of wheels and the 




Shoe-box Doll Buggy 



28 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Box Doll Buggy 



elimination of rockers. Soap boxes cut down, 
with wooden wheels and handle attached, also make 
attractive buggies 
and are durable. 

27. Wooden 
Doll. — Use a piece 
of wood 2 inches 
wide, 6 inches long, 
and J inch thick. 
On one end paint a 
face and glue un- 
raveled rope, corn- 
silk, floss, or cotton for hair. Attach two small sticks 
for arms, and two for legs, so that they can be 
moved. Dress. 

28. Wrapping-paper Doll. — Cut out a pattern 
of a doll 12 inches tall, with head, arms, and legs all 

in one. Lay this pattern on 
two thicknesses of heavy 
wrapping paper and cut out. 
Sew around the edges in col- 
ored yarn with overwhip 
stitch, and stuff with cotton. 
Draw the face. Dress. Use 
brown or black yarn in long 
lengths for hair. 

29. Doll Hat. — A boy's cap or girl's hat for a 
doll. Cut from heavy wrapping paper two circles, 




Wrapping-paper Doll 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



29 




Plate 7 



30 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



each 7 inches in diameter. (See Plate 7, Figures I 
and II.) Fold back the visor which was made by 
the cut and fold as indicated in Figure II. Place 
the two circles together and sew all around the cir- 
cumference with colored yarn. (See Figure III.) 
With the visor end up, it is a boy's cap. With the 
visor folded under and decorated, it is a girl's hat. 

30. Paper-bag Doll. — Stuff the end of a paper 
bag and tie to form the head. Paint a face. Open 
the lower half of the bag out to form a skirt to enable 
the doll to stand up. Attach arms to the dress. 

31. Paper Doll. — Take a piece of heavy-weight 
paper 20 inches long and 6 inches wide. Fold it 
lengthwise in thirds, as in Plate 8, Figure I. Fold 
this 2 -inch wide strip in half, as indicated by hne XY 
in Figures I and II. Take another piece of paper 
8 inches long and 3 inches wide and fold as in Figure 

III to look like Figure 
IV. Pass this last strip 
through Figure II, 3 
inches from the folded 
end, and secure with a 
paper fastener, as in Fig- 
ure V. Draw a face, and 
make cuts above the 
arms for the neck, as in 
Figure VI. Make a cut for the legs and glue the 
loose pieces together, as in Figure VII. 




Rag Doll 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 31 



B C D' 



Y X 



A B'C D' A 

I 



, 


Y 

E 


1 

1 
11 


F 


E p 



B E F F 



ly 



3 z 



YI 






Plate 8 



32 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



32. Rag Doll. — Cut out a paper pattern as in 
Model 28, and lay on a piece of doubled cloth or a 
stocking. Sew around the edge twice and then stuff. 
Put in the face with paints, yarn, or buttons. Dress 
the doll. 

33. Dyed Easter Eggs. — Have the children bring 
to school the shells left after mother has broken and 

used the eggs. Dry 
them. Use the hot- 
water dyes in pans with 
Kttle sticks to stir. The 
shells are dropped in and 
dyed both inside and 
outside. They may then 
be mounted on cards 
with glue and a bit of 
damp cotton placed in- 
side with a seed placed 
on top. The cotton is 
kept moist and the seed 
germinates and grows. 
The children have a little Easter plant to take home. 

34. Drum. — Use a can of the type of a i -pound 
coffee can or round rolled-oats box. If the latter is 
used, cut it in half through the center and fasten the 
lid back on the lower half. Pass a string through 
two sides of the box or drum so that it can hang 
about the neck. Paste a band of red paper around 




Drum 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



33 



the sides of the box, and decorate this with bands 
and cord as shown in the picture. Cut the drum- 
sticks out of dowel sticks. Both sides of the drum 
can be played upon. 

35. Duck Toy. — Cut out a picture of a duck 
from heavy wrapping paper. Dip this in paraffin 
and let it dry. Glue this to a large cork. This 
makes a good floating toy for a tiny baby's bath. 




Doll House 

36. Doll House. — Nail cracker and soap boxes 
together, and nail boards to form a pointed roof 



34 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



over the top. Cut doors and windows in the boxes 
and build a chimney. Use wall paper or paint the 
inside, and then furnish. Individual doll houses may 
be made from hat boxes. The children can take 
these home. 

37. Paper Dress. — From a piece of heavy wrap- 
ping paper, folded so that the shoulders and neck 

come at the fold, cut out 
a child's dress, butterfly 
pattern. Bind the neck 
with white lawn glued in- 
to place. Decorate the 
paper to look like dress 
material ; trim with 
bands, pleats, pockets, 
sash, rosettes, or buttons 
made of tissue paper 
rolled into balls. These 
dresses have been known 
to last little girls for two 
weeks of daily wear. Mothers have expressed 
joy in the fact that they keep school frocks clean. 

38. Engine. — Use a vegetable can which has 
been opened with a can opener. Be sure that the 
hd has not been taken entirely off. Soak the paper 
off the outside and clean the can. Bend the lid 
down and point it to form a cowcatcher. Nail the 
tin can to a fiat board with buttonmold wheels at- 




Paper Dress 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



35 




Engine 



tached. Set a spool box up at the back of the can 
for the cabin. Place empty thread spools on top of 
the can for a bell and smoke- 
stack. Tie a string to the 
front of the engine so that it 
can be pulled about. The 
engine may be painted or 
enameled. 

39. Frog Toy. — Cut out 
of green construction paper, 
or heavy wrapping paper, a 
frog, lying flat in extended 
swimming position. Color 
the wrapping paper and dip 
the frog in paraffin. Fold his legs at both joints 
in a contracted, or ready-to-begin, swimming posi- 
tion. This can be used as a baby's bathtub toy. 

40. Fan. — There are numerous ways of making 
attractive and useful fans. The accordion fold 
may be used, secured at one end and attached to a 
handle ; the cardboard fan, designed and decorated ; 
and the folded fan that opens on two handles. These 
are all practical patterns. 

41. Fireman's Hat, I. — Use a piece of heavy wrap- 
ping paper about i6 inches long and lo inches wide, 
doubled and glued together. Cut in a point at one 
end and round at the other, as in Plate 9, Figure I. 
Draw a circle the size of the child's headband and 



36 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 9 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



37 



cut slits, as indicated in Figure I. Slits are 
folded back, as in Figure III. The crown is then 
made of lighter weight wrapping paper cut in 
a circle a little larger than the headband dimen- 
sion, as in 
Figure 11. 
This crown 
is laid in 
folds and 
sewed on to 
the brim so 
that it goes 
into a point 
at the top. 
(Figures IV 
and V.) 

42. Fireman's Hat, II. — Use newspaper or wrap- 
ping paper. Take a piece the size of an open news- 
paper sheet, and fold, as in Plate lo. Figure I. Place 
with the broad side toward you, and the folded edge 
back. Fold corner A to point C, and corner B to 
point C. Fold upper sheet F and G back on dotted 
line DEj as in Figure III. Turn over and fold under- 
side F and G back on dotted line DE, as in Figure 
IV. Holding upper and lower point C, draw out 
and fold down to look like Figure V. Fold upper 
point X on point Y (Figure V), as in Figure VI. 
Point Z in Figure VII is the front. 




(I) 

Fireman's Hat 



Fireman's Hat, I 



38 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate io 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



39 



43. Box Furniture. — Use the wood from soap and 
cracker boxes that have been taken apart. One 




Low Bench with Vises 



should have on hand wooden wheels 3 inches and 
6 inches in diameter and narrow, light boards cut in 
6-inch and 8-inch lengths. Boards of proper size, 




Box Furniture 



40 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

wheels, and legs can be prepared in the school 
manual training department. It is better if one can 
have a low manual bench with vises. Hammers, 
saws, nails, and a brace and bit are needed. Boys 
and girls alike delight in making airplanes, boats, 
tables, chairs, beds, doll buggies, cupboards, trunks, 
etc. This furniture, when made, may be painted or 
enameled and, if it is desired, may be designed with 
stencil borders. 

44. Ball-stand Game. — Saw several wooden 
posts varying in height from i foot to 4 feet. 
Fasten these on standards so that they will stand 
erect and firm. Attach berry baskets at the top 
of each post and place a number on each basket, 
numbering the basket on the shortest post No. I, 
and so on up. The game is played by standing back 
at a distance agreed upon and 
throwing balls into the baskets. 
A score is made corresponding 
to the number of the basket the 
ball falls into. 

45. Ring-toss Game. — A 10- 

inch wooden post is supported 

on a standard. Rings of heavy 

Ring-toss Game rope, 5 inches in diameter, are 

wound with different colored yarns to make them stiff 

and attractive. The object of the game is to throw 

these rings around the post, scoring accordingly. 




HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



41 



46. Giant Game. — A giant's head with a large 
mouth is drawn on wrapping paper. The mouth 
is cut out. The paper is tacked to a wooden frame 
with enough support to hold it 
erect. The object of the game is 
to throw the ball from a base line 
through the mouth. 

47. Aviation Goggles. — On a 
piece of heavy wrapping paper 
draw goggles, as in Plate 11. Cut 
out and crease on letters A and 
B for wearing. 

48. Popgun. — Use shoe-box cardboard and trace 
two guns from a pattern, as in Plate 12. Cut out 
and fasten them together by gluing cloth along the top 
edge, as indicated in Figure I. Let dry. Make the 




Giant Game 




(Open) 



(Closed) 



Popgun 



cracker of light-weight wrapping paper or of news- 
paper to fit the end of the gun, as indicated in Fig- 
ure II . Fold lint A B. Paste edge A C along the end 



42 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate ii 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 43 




Plate 12 



44 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



of the upper gun, then turn over and paste edge AC^ 
along the end of the bottom gun. Fold inside, as in 
Figure III. Hold firmly and shoot by a forceful 
downward motion of the hand. 

49. Hallowe'en Mask. — Out of heavy lawn or 
wrapping paper cut a piece large enough to cover the 
face. Draw the features and paint. Cut out the 
eyes. Draw the chin into shape with a small piece 
of adhesive tape. Paste a piece of tape along the 
top of the mask long enough to encircle the head and 
tie in the back. 

50. Stick Horse. — Use a lath or a narrow stick 
of bamboo about 2 feet long. Tack a bit of frayed 
rope or fringed paper to one end for a tail. Make 
a horse's head out of cardboard and tack it to 
the opposite end. Attach the reins to the stick 




Pattern for Hat 



Hat 
(Trimmed) 



just under the head. Color with paints or crayons. 
51. Hat. — Fold a piece of wrapping or wall 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



45 



paper 2 feet 4 inches by i foot 6 inches as indicated 
in Plate 13, Figure I, and cut out the brim, which is 
4 inches wide in the back and 5 inches wide in 




Children Wearing Paper Hats 

the front. (See Figure 11.) Close the brim at point 
AB and sew or glue it. Cut out a circular crown of 
contrasting paper larger than the headband measure- 
ment. (See Figure III.) Gather the crown into 
the brim, as in Figure IV, and tack in place. Trim 
with bows, rosettes, tissue paper flowers, ribbon, etc. 



46 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 









^^ 










I 


^^""——-^^ 


C3 




( ) 


c 


(S^/" 


m 


< 

W ' 


f^ 


^ 



Plate 13 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 47 

52. Flower Hat. — From pliable cardboard cut 
a band large enough to fit the head. Glue the 
ends together at the back. Place the band on the 
head. Run a strip from front to back over the 
head and fasten in place on the band in the front and 
back. Do the same from side to side. Cover this 
frame with petals and leaves made from colored 
tissue or crepe paper. 

53. Horse Reins. — Cut three strands of jute 
each 3 feet long. Braid or knot to keep the strands 
together. Tie so as to form a circle, making a divi- 
sion to pass over the head and under the arms. At- 
tach sleigh bells to the front piece. 

54. Indian Headband. — Make a wrapping pa- 
per band to fit the head. Dip large chicken or tur- 
key feathers into brilliant paint or enamel and let 
them dry. Sew these feathers around the headband. 
Decorate these bands with beads and the nail guards 
used on roofing paper. A fringed tail made from 
the same wrapping paper may be secured to the 
band so as to hang down the back. This should be 
painted in brilKant hues. The headband may 
be worn with an Indian chief's jacket made like 
a Camp Fire girl's dress, but shorter. 

55. Jiunping Rope. — Cut three strands of jute 
the proper length for a child's jumping rope. Tie 
at intervals or braid to keep the strands together. 
Attach large spools to the ends for handles. Col- 



48 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



ored yarn may be wound around the jute or braided 
in with it to make the rope attractive. 

56. Jumping Jack. — Use four cardboard strips, 
each 6 inches long and i inch wide ; two strips 4 
inches long and i inch wide ; and two, 6 inches long 

and I inch wide with the ends 
shaped into feet. Number these 
strips I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, as 
shown in Plate 14. Make a card- 
board head, approximately 3 
inches in diameter (see Plate 14, 
Figures I, III, and IV), with a 
pointed cap. Punch holes at 
both ends of strips i and 2 ; at 
the center and both ends of strips 
3, 4, 5, and 6 ; and at the center 
and top of strips 7 and 8. Put together and secure 
with paper fasteners as in Figure IV. Paint and 
shellac. Holding the feet as pinchers, shoot the 
toy up and down. 

57. Jack o' Lantern — Make a hollow pumpkin 
face and Hd out of clay. Poke the eyes, nose, and 
mouth all the way through. While the clay is soft 
, place a candle in the inside and a wire handle over 
the top. Place in the sun to dry. When dry, paint 
it orange color and paste a green stem made from 
green tissue or crepe paper on the lid. Light the 
candle on Hallowe'en. 




Jumping Jack 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



49 




o 1.2 o 








o 3^56.0 


'] 




o 7,8 o 


r , 




Plate 14 



so 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Kite 



58. Kite. — Use 

shingles split into 
strips of any length 
desired. Make the 
frame cross-shaped. 
Extend and secure a 
string from the four 
ends of the strips. 
Cover the frame with 
tissue paper and 
paste. Next make 
the bridle of cord 

fastened at the top end of the vertical strip and 

the two ends of the horizontal strip. Secure the 

kite string at the center of the bridle. At the 

bottom end of the 

vertical strip fasten 

a string with cloth 

knots tied at inter- 
vals for the tail. A 

tailless kite may be 

made by bowing the 

horizontal cross 

strip. To do this, 

use umbrella staves 

or a pliable wood. 

The horizontal strip 

is held in bow posi- Shopping Bag 




HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 51 

tion with a string shorter than the strip and fastened 
at each end. Construct the rest of the kite as stated 
above, omitting the tail. 

59. Shopping Bag. — Use a large paper bag. Fold 
under at the top about i inch all around. Cut a 
I -inch strip of wrapping paper and bind the bag on 
the inside around the top with this, using colored 
yarn. Make a handle of wrapping paper or jute 
and secure it on each side. Decorate the bag with 
pictures, stencils, or designs.^ 

60. Knitting Bag. — Take a section of newspaper 
and fold on dotted line AB. (See Plate 15, Figure 
I.) Place on the table with folded side toward 
you, as in Figure II. Fold the left side over to the 
right side and crease. Cut in at the center of the 
left side, as in Figure III, and cut out the handle as 
indicated. Open as in Figure IV. Sew up the left 
side, over the top, and down the right side with 
colored yarn. 

61. Knitting Needles. — Procure meat skewers 
from the butcher shop, and fasten a cork to the blunt 
end. Many kindergarten children have learned to 
knit chains and squares with these skewer needles. 

62. Marbles. — Roll the marbles out of clay. 
Place in the sun to dry. When dry, bake in a slow 

^ Formerly in the kindergarten and primary grades, we mounted flat 
pictures on cards which had no practical use. To-day we use these 
flat designs and pictures in decorating such things as the shopping bag. 



52 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 15 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 53 

oven. When cool, paint and shellac. Then have 
the children make bags out of strong cloth with 
drawstrings at the top, to hold the marbles. 

63. Floor Mat. — Fold five or six newspapers, 
full sheet size, into each other, so as to make a 
thick pad. Place clothespins on the open edges to 
hold the papers in place until sewed. Lay this paper 
pad on the ground and, with hammer and nail, pound 
it full of holes. Sew yarn or string in and out of 
these holes, tying the ends firmly. Then take the 
clothespins off. Before we had a rug in our kinder- 
garten each child had a mat like this of his own. 
We always took them with us when we went on pic- 
nics to the park. 

64. Motion Pictures. — Use wrapping paper 
strips 6 inches wide and as long as is desired for films. 
Draw and color funny pictures on this paper and 
also mount pictures cut from magazines. Attach 
the ends of the film to two 6-inch spools. Wind the 
film up on to one of the spools, and unwind it on to 
the other. Prepare the front of a hat box with a 
place for the children to peep through. Run the film 
through at the back on the inside of the hat box. 
Two children can wind and unwind the film at a 
time. The children enjoy their own creation and 
seem never to tire of going to the ^' show." We 
need more genuine fun in public school life. This 
little show affords the children much laughter. 



54 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

65. Puzzles. — Cut an attractive picture out of a 
magazine. Mount it on a stiff card. Draw numer- 
ous cross lines in all directions over the picture. 
Cut on these lines, dividing the picture into sections. 
Make an envelope to contain the parts. The object 
of the game is to put the parts together to form the 
complete picture. 

66. Parasol. — Cover a paper picnic plate with 
colored tissue paper cut into a circle 2 inches larger 
than the plate in diameter. Flute the edges of the 
tissue paper. Tack a dowel stick to the center of 
the underside of the plate for the handle. 

67. Parrot Toy. — Cut, in a circular cardboard 
disk 6 inches in diameter, a hole 5 inches in diameter. 
The I -inch wide disk thus formed is the parrot's 
swing. (See Plate 16, Figures I and II.) Cut out 
a cardboard parrot, making deep notches in the feet, 
so that he will balance in the swing. Paint and 
shellac both the swing and parrot. Attach a string 
to the swing so that it may be hung up. (See Fig- 
ure III.) 

68. Paper Doll Sets. — Cut paper dolls out of a 
heavy water-color paper. Draw in the features and 
tint them. Make dresses, aprons, bath robes, coats 
and sweaters, shoes, furs, hats, etc., out of hght- 
weight wrapping paper with clips to hold on over the 
shoulders. Color the dresses. Construct a trunk or 
suitcase for the wardrobe. Our pupils made many 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



55 




Plate i6 



56 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 17 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 57 

sets like this at Christmas time for the little ones 
in the County Hospital. 

69. Railroad Signal. — Refer to Plate 17. Fasten 
a wooden post 5 on to a standard A. Nail an arm 
C so that it extends out from the top. Strengthen 
by a crosspiece D. From the end of this arm, drop 
a cardboard strip E. This strip E is fastened to the 
arm C by a string. With a large paper fastener 
attach to strip E a red cardboard circle, on which 
the words " Danger " or " Look Out " have been 
printed. A little bell also may be fastened to E, 
and a string attached which the child can pull to 
make the bell sound a warning. 

70. Rattle. — Put a few beans into a small ribbon 
roll or some kind of tiny box. Close and seal. Stick 
the sharp end of a meat skewer into a side of the box 
and glue it in place. Paint the whole thing in at- 
tractive colors or cover with fancy colored paper. 

71. Ring. — Use brass curtain rings, finger size. 
Tie colored beads, or round pearl buttons on the 
ring for gems. The ring wears a long time, and 
satisfies the longing to adorn. 

72. Rug and Loom. — Make a loom by hammering 
at regular intervals an equal number of nails along 
opposite sides of a wooden frame. String cord around 
these nails back and forth from end to end and 
tie firmly. Teach the children how to cut rag strips 
and join them without sewing. This is done by 



58 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



putting a hole in each end of the two rags to be 
joined and then fastening the ends together through 
these holes in slipknot fashion. These rag strips are 



IRE 








m" 


K 




'WL 


ml 


ft'i 


H 


■ 


m 




jii 


I^K^T^ 






1 





Rug and Loom 



woven back and forth on the loom until it is filled. 
Then the cords are lifted off the nails. Jute may 
be used for weaving in place of the rag strips. 

73. Signal Flag. — Hem the four sides of a piece 
of white cloth i foot square. Stencil a bright crayon 
symbol in the center. Nail a stick on this and you 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



59 




Signal Flag 



have a signal flag. The chil- 
dren may make two flags 
apiece and practice signaHng. 
74. Sewing Basket. — Stain 
or paint a berry basket. Pre- 
pare a cretonne band 4 inches 
wide and long enough to fit 
around the top edge of the four 
sides of the basket. Sew this 
band to the top of the berry 
basket on the inside with the 
right side of the cretonne out. Draw the band up 
above the sides of the basket and make a hem. Pass 
a draw string through this hem. The basket also 

may be lined and provided 
with a pincushion. 

75. SpoolDolL — Usetwo 
large and eight small spools 
and four pieces of strong 
string. Arrange the spools 
on the table as in Plate 18. 
Pass string A through the 
right leg spools, and through 
the body and head spools. 
Pass string B through the two left leg spools, and 
through the body and head spools. Pass string C 
through the two right arm spools and the head spool. 
Pass string D through the two left arm spools and 




Sewing Basket 



6o 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate i8 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



6l 




Soldier 



the head spool. At all four ends place buttons to 
keep the string from slipping through. At the top 
join the strings together in a knot. Decorate. 

76. Soldier. — Draw on a piece 
of cardboard a soldier 15 inches 
high. Cut out. Build a wooden 
standard 15 inches tall with a sup- 
porting base. Tack or glue the 
soldier to this. During the war 
children made sailors and Red 
Cross nurses in this way. 

77. Spectrum Twirler. — Cut 
out of cardboard two circular cards 
each three inches in diameter, as in 
Plate 19, Figure I. Divide each card in half with a 
line and color the halves in primary colors. Make 
two holes in each card, as in Figure I. Pass a string 
through the cards, as in Figure II, and tie. Wind up, 
as in Figure III, and draw back and forth as it twirls. 

78. Japanese Slippers. — Have the child place 
his shoe on a piece of cardboard and draw around it. 
(See Plate 20, Figure I.) Using this as a guide, cut 
out two soles. Cut a toe from heavy wrapping 
paper a little larger than the toe of the sole, as in 
Plate 20, Figure II. Put this over the sole and 
paste on the underside. The inside of the sole may 
be lined with cotton, and a rosette placed on top. 
(See Figures III and IV.) 



62 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 19 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



63 




Plate 20 



64 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

79. Sunbonnet. — Use a circular piece of cloth 
20 inches in diameter, as in Plate 21, Figure I, and 
a piece of pliable cardboard cut in the form of a half 
circle 20 inches in diameter, as in Figure II. Paste 
the cardboard over half of the cloth, as in Figure III. 
Run a thread around the edge of the other half (see 
Figure III) following the dotted line, and then draw 
together. Attach tie-strings as indicated in Figure 
III. For side and back of sunbonnet, see Figures IV 
and V. 

80. Sailor Tarn o' Shanter. — Out of heavy wrap- 
ping paper cut a circle 10 inches in diameter, as in 
Plate 22, Figure I, and make a band the size 
of the child's head. Cut out teeth in the band, as 
in Figure II, and close at the back. Bend down 
the teeth and paste to the circle, as indicated by 
the dotted line in Figure I. For finished hat, see 
Figure III. 

81. Sailor Hat. — Use a paper bag that is large 
enough to fit over the child's head. Cut it in half, 
through the center, as in Plate 23, Figure I, AB. 
Discard the lower open half of the bag. Using the 
upper half of the bag only, fold up on the outside all 
around, as indicated in Figure II, XYZ, The edge 
may be bound if so desired, 

82. Soldier Hat. — Make this the same as the 
sailor tam o' shanter, only cut the cardboard circle 
8 inches in diameter. (See Plate 24, Figure I.) After 




HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE • 65 

the band (Figure III) has been glued to the circle 
make a visor, as indicated in Figure 11. Glue in 
place at the front of the band. (See Figure IV.) 

83. Soldier's Overseas Hat. — Take a piece of 
wrapping paper 19 inches by 15 inches, and paint a 
drab color. Fold the 15-inch edges together, as in- 
dicated in Plate 25, Figure I, line DC. Cut in four 
inches on the folded hne DC at points D and C to 
points Q and R as shown in Figure II. 
Make a crease i inch from, parallel 
with, and on both sides of, the center 
crease. (See Figure II, line XY.) 
Place the hat on the table, as shown Soldier's 

in Figure III, with the center crease Overseas Hat 
folded in and the other two creases folded up. 
Fold inside the two corners made by cutting line 
CQ and RD' , as in Figure IV. Sides A and B 
are folded in and fastened with a large paper fas- 
tener, after laying the facing back, as in Figure IV. 
(See finished hat below Figures III and IV.) 

84. Spurs. — Use a Hght-weight pliable card 
(such as laundrymen place in men's shirts). Cut 
out an anklet to fit the child's ankle. Make a circle 
of stiffer cardboard 2 inches in diameter. Cut teeth 
around the circumference of this circle. Punch 
holes in both ends of the anklet and in the center of 
the circle. Put on, and fasten with a paper fastener 
through the three holes. 



66 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 21 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



67 




Plate 22 



68 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 23 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALXIE 



69 




Plate 24 



yo 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 25 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 71 

85. Sling Shot. — Cut off a forked branch, 
trim off the leaves, and leave two 4-inch prongs. 
Attach a broad rubber band from the ends of the 
two prongs. Paper wads may be shot with this 
sUng at a target erected for practice. 

86. Soldier's Leggings. — Using Plate 26, Figure 
I, as a pattern, cut out of heavy wrapping paper two 
leggings of a size to fit a child's leg. Along sides 
A and B of each legging paste 
a strip of lawn i inch wide. 
Place under a weight to dry. 
When dry, punch an equal 
number of holes along these 
strips, as in Figure I. Put the 
leggings on, lace up, and tie. 
If laces are not available, strong ^ , ^ 

' ^ Soldier s Leggings 

cord may be used. 

87. Train. — From a piece of heavy construction 
paper cut out a train on the fold, as in Plate 27, Fig- 
ure I. At the bottom and through the inside of the 
folded train, place a strip of wood, about i inch high 
and 2 inches wide, and as long as the train. Tack 
this in place. At the front of the stick or block drive 
a staple to which a string can be tied. This toy may 
then be pulled about the floor or run on tracks. 
Windows may be cut out and paper dolls placed in- 
side in the attitude of looking out. For completed 
train see Figure 11. 




72 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 26 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



73 



^ 






□ a 





74 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

88. Tree. — Use a piece of paper 9 inches by 12 
inches or of equal proportion. Fold as in Plate 28, 
Figure I. Place on the table, as in Figure II, with 
open edges on the left side. Tear or cut as indicated 
in Figure 11. Paste the open edges closed and stand 
on end. Crayon or paint. For use in block vil- 
lages, sand cities, etc. 

89. Top. — Use a milk-bottle top or circle of 
heavy cardboard 2 inches in diameter. Color in bril- 
liant design on both sides. Cut the black end off a 
burnt match, stick the match through the center of 
the card and glue in place. 

90. Indian Tom-Tom. — Use a cottage cheese car- 
ton. Cut the Hd as in Plate 29, Figure I. Place 
the Hd back on the box. (See Figure III.) Pass a 
cord tightly across the center of the lid, through holes 
near the top of each side, and down until it can be tied 
under the bottom, as shown by Figures II and III. 
Securely tie a match or small pencil to this cord at 
the center of the lid, so that one half of the 
stick is on the lid and one half over the opening. 
(See Figure I.) By tapping on the free end of the 
stick one gets the tom-tom thump and hollow vi- 
bration. 

91. Wheelbarrow. — Take a soap or cracker box ; 
remove one short end, as in Plate 30, Figure I. Lay 
two laths under the box, as in Figure II, and nail in 
place. Secure a 6-inch wooden wheel where the 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



75 




Plate 28 



76 PURPOSEFUI. HANDWORK 




m 




z:^.^^^^ 




Plate 29 



HANDWORK OF PLAY VALUE 



77 




laths come together in front at point Z. At points X 
and Y nail legs 6 inches long. Paint and decorate. 

92. Wrist Watch. 
— Use a piece of 
heavy wrapping 
paper ^ inch wide 
and as long as the 
child's wrist meas- 
ure, and a card- 
board circle i-J- 
inches in diameter 
with a watch face 
drawn on it. Put 
a hole in both ends 
of the bracelet and in the center of the watch face. 
Put a large brass paper fastener through the holes 
in the bracelet ends and watch face with the ends 
bent up to use as watch hands. 

93. Basket Wagon. — Use a stick 3 inches long 
and suitable for a toy wagon tongue or shaft. To one 
end of the stick nail the center of a crosspiece 8 
inches long and about 2 inches wide and i inch thick. 
At both ends of this 8-inch crosspiece nail wooden 
wheels 3 inches in diameter. Nail a large tomato 
basket to the crosspiece, so that the crosspiece runs 
across the middle of the basket's bottom. Paint 
or enamel. 



Wheelbarrow 



78 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 30 



CHAPTER IV 



Handwork of Utility Value 

Children's handwork may be divided into toys 
which they make to play with, and articles which 
serve purposes of utihty. This chapter is devoted 
to the description of utilitarian articles which I have 
seen kindergarten-primary children work out. 

94. Constructed Apron. — Out of heavy wrapping 
paper or oilcloth, cut an apron, as in Plate 31. Bind 
the edges with cloth glued to the paper or with a 
band of the same paper overwhipped with colored 
yarn. Make the apron large enough for the child to 
wear comfortably. A large pocket may be put in 
the front of the apron. Made shorter and with 
many pockets, it 
makes a practical 
carpenter's apron 
with places for 
nails. 

95. ClothApron. 
— Make a band 
long enough to encircle the child's waist and tie in a 
bow at the back. Cut out a Httle square or round 
piece of cloth large enough to cover the front of the 

79 




Cloth Apron 



8o PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 31 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 



8i 



child's skirt. Hem this apron on three sides and 
gather the unhemmed side. Insert the gathered side 
of the apron at the 
center of the band, 
and sew firmly . This 
little apron may be 
decorated with a 
stencil design or em- 
broidered in colored 
yarns. 

96. Crayon Beads. 
— Melt up old cray- 
ons that have grown 
too small for use. 
When cool but still 
soft enough to work, 
mold in bead shape 
and put holes 
through. Then 

allow them to dry. They are also attractive molded 
into various shaped pendants to be worn on ribbon 
ends. 

97. Paper Beads. — Use the colored or glazed 
pictures from magazines. Cut up into triangular 
shapes 4 or 5 inches long, i inch wide at one end, 
and running to a point at the other end. Begin- 
ning with the wide end, roll on to a pencil or skewer 
and glue down. Slip the stick out of the bead, and 




Child Wearing Cloth Apron 



82 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

let it dry. By this method the combination of color 
is rolled on the outside. The bead is then shellacked 
and strung when dry. 

98. Clay Beads. — Model clay beads of different 
shapes and sizes. Punch holes through the beads 
with a nail or stick while the clay is still soft. Put 
away to dry. When dry, paint in colors, shellac, 
and string on heavy cord. 

99. Bulb Bowl. — Out of clay, model a bulb or flower 
bowl and frog. Allow the clay to dry. Paint or en- 
amel, and shellac the surface. Brush the inside with a 
thin coat of paraffin. The bowl is filled with water 
and the clay frog, with holes in his back in which 
the flowers are placed, holds the flowers erect. 

100. Clay Bird. — Model a bird out of clay. Be 
sure that the weight of the tail balances that of the 
head and neck. Put deep grooves in the feet so 
that they will fit over the side of a flower bowl. 
Paint and shellac the bird. Place on the edge of a 
flower or bulb bowl. 

101. Book Brace. — This article involves very 
simple hammering. Use a piece of wood 8 or lo 
inches long and 4 inches wide for the bottom of the 
brace. For the sides, two pieces 4 inches square. 
Nail the sides to the short ends of the bottom, then 
stain or enamel. 

102. Bird Stick. — Out of cardboard or heavy 
wrapping paper make a bird or butterfly measuring 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 83 

4 or 5 inches from wing. to wing. Color and nail or 
sew to a dowel stick to stake up a plant in a garden 
bed, or tie to a small twig to place in a vase among 
flowers. 

103. Hair Bow. — One day a little girl in the sixth 
grade of our school called me to look at her hair 
ribbon. I admired it ; but not until I was told, did 
I realize that it was made of strips of pale pink and 
blue tissue paper pasted together and gilded at the 
pasted edges. It was made into a double bow and 
put in a ribbon clasp. It was Friday, and my 
young friend had worn it since Tuesday, but could 
easily wear it for another week. Her classmates 
were so dehghted over the original idea that they 
persuaded her to make one for each of them. Now 
it is quite the fad in the school. Our kindergarten- 
primary children have found that tissue paper hair 
bows are quite as easy to make as any of our other 
projects in Purposeful Handwork , and so are contin- 
ually making very attractive bows which they wear 
instead of ribbon. The children are learning to make 
color selections that harmonize with the dresses they 
wear. This project makes the price of an attractive 
hair bow 2 cents in place of a dollar or more. 

104. Cot. — Take four boards, each 2 by 2 inches 
by 2 feet, and bore a hole in the center of each. Cross 
two of these boards so that the holes come directly 
under each other, and screw together with a long 



84 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



bolt. Do the same with the other two boards. 
These form the legs. (See Plate 32, Figure I.) 
Next take two boards each 4 feet long and of the 
same thickness and width as those used for legs, 
and nail to the upper ends of the legs for sides, 




Cot 
Top : without cover 
Bottom : with cover 

as in Figure II. Cover with burlap or canvas, nail- 
ing it down at the corners and along the sides. (See 
Figure III.) Children can make small folding cots 
like this model for their dolls. They can also make 
cardboard cots, using paper fasteners for bolts, to 
use with paper dolls. 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 85 




Plate 32 



86 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Candlestick and Shade 



105. Candlestick and Shade. — Out of clay, model 
a candlestick, as in Plate 33, Figure I. While the 
clay is still soft, insert the sticks which hold up the 
shade ; also make the hole for the candle to stand in. 

Out of heavy wrapping paper 
and tissue paper, make the shade 
as indicated in Figure II. -The 
two edges A and B are then 
pasted together and the shade 
placed on stick supports. The 
light shading indicates where 
the tissue paper is put in. 
(See Figure III.) The shade 
may be lined with asbestos to 
insure safety when in use. This makes both an at- 
tractive and useful project. 

106. Candle. — Make a clay pillar mold 3 inches 
high and i inch wide. With a finger or pencil, make 
a hole lengthwise through the center of the pillar and 
-| inch from the bottom. Hang a string in this hole, 
and then fill the hole with melted paraffin. When 
the wax is hard and set, shave the clay off. The 
clay is neither harmed nor dirtied by this process and 
so may be used again. The candle is then placed 
in the stick and may be burned by lighting the top 
of the string which serves as a wick. (See Plate 33.) 

107. Cup. — Take a square piece of paper and 
fold it diagonally, as in Plate 34, Figure I. Place 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 



87 




Plate 33 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Plate 34 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 89 

the folded side toward you. (See Figure II.) Place 
point A on point D, as in Figure III, and fold. Place 
point E on point B and fold, as in Figure IV. Fold 
one half of point C forward on point F and the other 
half of point C backward in the same way. (See 
Figure V.) The cup then may be decorated. 

108. Crumb Tray and Scraper. — From a piece of 
card or heavy construction paper measure off, as in 
Plate 35, Figure I. Cut on the dotted lines, fold 
on the dash lines. Glue the two 2-inch corners in 
box shape, as in Figure II. The crumb scraper 
shown in Figure III is cut from the same kind of 
paper. Decorate both the tray and scraper with 
stencil design and color. Then shellac to make stiff 
and glossy. 

109. Coat Hanger. — Take a section of newspaper 
and roll up into a firm hard roll. Tie both ends with 
cord to hold the paper in place. In the center, tie a 
piece of jute or cord leaving a loop to hang over a 
hook. If one chooses, after the newspaper roll is 
made, colored tissue or crepe paper may be used to 
cover the newspaper and make a daintier project. 

110. Compass. — Use a piece of cardboard 8 inches 
long and i inch wide. Mark off inches along one 
side. At one end make a hole large enough for the 
point of a pencil to pass through ; at the other end 
place a common pin. The distance from the pin to 
the pencil point tells the size of the radius. The 



go 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 











i -i- 


I 




1 " I 

\ 1 i / 

« 1 1 ' 




=^^ 




( I m 


J 









Plate 35 




HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 91 

radius dimension is made longer or shorter by mov- 
ing the pin. 

111. Churn. — Use a pint or quart glass fruit jar. 
Either make a hole in the center of the 
tin lid, or make a wooden lid to fit the 
top of the jar with a hole in its center. 
The hole should be large enough to 
permit the dasher to work through 
it easily. Use a dowel stick for the 
dasher with a small wooden paddle 

nailed on at the bottom. Place the dasher through 
the hole in the top of the jar, and then screw the top 
down. 

112. Doilies. — Doihes may be made from cloth, 
oilcloth, or heavy wrapping paper cut in circles and 
decorated with colored yarns or stencil patterns. 
Burlap doilies are easily fringed. 

113. Darning Egg. — Children may model a darn- 
ing egg out of clay, which, when dry, they can paint 
and shellac. They then bring stockings from home 
and use the egg under the hole that is to be mended. 
The principles of weaving can be taught in the darn- 
ing lesson. 

114. Flower Pot and Plant. — Out of clay model 
a flower pot 4 inches high, and 3 inches in diameter 
across the top, with a httle hole in the bottom for 
drainage. Decorate the pot with enamels when it 
is hard and dry. Then shellac the surface and paint 



92 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 




Flower Pot and Plant 



the inside with par- 
affin. Fill with earth 
and plant a seed. 
The children care for 
the young plant as 
it grows and finally 
take it home. 

115. Fly Swatter. 
— Bind the edges of a 3-inch square piece of wire 
window screening with black oilcloth, or heavy cloth. 
Nail this to a stick 6 inches long for a handle. Dec- 
orate or stain the handle. 

116. Handkerchief. — Hem the 
four sides of a piece of stiff lawn, 
of handkerchief size. Colored or 
white lawn may be used. Trace 
a design and follow it with a 
running stitch, or decorate in 
crayons or stencils. The children 
may print initials in one corner 

with the printing press and may embroider these 
with colored yarn which harmonizes with the color 
of the lawn used. 

117. Hearth Broom. — Select a bamboo stick 
2 feet long, and tie a raffia loop at one end by 
which it may be hung up. At the bottom tie a piece 
of palm bark, as in Plate 36, Figure I. Turn back 
over the end and tie as in Figure II. At both 




Fly Swatter 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 



93 




Plate 36 



94 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



places the bark is tied with raffia. CUp to shape 
evenly. 

118. Luncheon Set. — Cut doiUes in different sizes 
out of washable oilcloth. Cut out stencils from 
heavy wrapping paper, or other suitable material. 
Shellac the stencils and let them dry before using 
on the doilies. Use oil paints or enamel for coloring 
the stenciled designs. 

119. Lunch Box. — Take a Uneeda Biscuit box 
or one of similar size and shape. Remove the outer 
paper. Paint the box black or a flat color. Cut 
snips from brilhantly colored papers, arrange in 
designs, and paste on the box. Shellac the box on 
the outside. Tin cans fixed in this way make useful 
and attractive containers for the cupboard or dresser. 

Boil the tin cans in soda 
water to remove the labels 
before painting. 

120. Napkin Ring. — In- 
teresting napkin rings may 
be made either out of card- 
board shaped into a ring and 
covered with raffia, or by 
braiding raffia and then sewing it together in bands 
or rings, or by sewing or braiding palm bark into 




Pan Holder 



Sweet grass napkin rings are also very attrac- 
Out of canvas or burlap the 



rings 
tive. 

121. Pan Holder 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 95 

children may make small pads, about 5 inches square, 
and stuff them with cotton. If desired, they may 
stencil designs in the center. Then they sew a 
curtain ring or piece of tape to one corner by which 
the holder can be hung up. 

122. Picture Frame. — When children make pic- 
tures for the doll's house or play house, they may like 
to frame them. A frame is made by using four sticks 
of equal size and length, which are sandpapered, and 
nailed together at the corners. It is then painted 
or stained an appropriate color. Sometimes, it may 
be covered with raffia or palm bark instead of be- 
ing painted. 

123. Pincushion. — Cut out a paper pattern the 
shape of the cushion which you wish to make. This 
pattern is than laid on the material and cut out. 
After the first few times the children learn to cut the 
material on the fold, or doubled. The edges are sewed 
and then overwhipped with harmonizing material. 
Before stuffing, the cushion is decorated, either with 
crayons or yarn. To stuff, turn cushion cover with 
seams on the inside, and use meal, sawdust, or 
cotton. 

124. Pillow. — The children may make floor pillows 
to use when resting on the floor. The pillows are 
made of burlap 12 inches square, stuffed with cot- 
ton and decorated with colored yarn. Pillows may 
also be made out of sections of newspaper, stuffed with 



96 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



mm 



Paper Plates 



clipped or torn paper, and sewed around the edges 
with colored yarn. 

125. Paper Plates. — Paper picnic plates may be 
bought and decorated by the children with original 
designs in paints and with crayon. For hygienic 

reasons, the plates 
should not be used for 
food unless covered by 
paper napkins. 

126. Letter Pocket. 
— A whisk broom- 
holder or letter pocket 
is easily made by using 
two paper picnic plates. One plate is cut in half. 
The half plate is placed over one half of the whole 
plate, with the bottoms of the plates on the 
outside, and the edges are whipped together with 
colored yarn. The outside is then decorated and a 
loop of ribbon or yarn is secured at the top for 
hanging. 

127. Folding Ruler. — Three or four pieces of card- 
board each 6 inches long and i inch wide are marked 
off in inches. These are then shellacked to make them 
stiff and durable. The rules are joined together at 
the ends by brass paper fasteners, thus permitting 
them to be folded together into one length. 

128. Scarecrow. — Scarecrows of various types 
may be made for the garden. A very successful one 



HANDWORK OF UTILITY VALUE 97 

was made of two sticks nailed together in the shape 
of a cross. A paper bag with a face drawn on it 
with heavy black crayon was tied over the top. Pa- 
per fingers which fluttered in the breeze were nailed 
to the ends of the arms. A dress was fitted to it, and 
shoes were tied under the dress. A hat was con- 
structed and pinned in place. Then it was placed in 
the middle of a garden. 

129. Tie Rack. — A successful Christmas gift 
was the tie rack made '' for father." Wooden coat 
hangers with the strip across the bottom for the 
skirt or trousers were brought to school. These 
were enameled in white. Pale pink blossoms and 
green leaves were painted on the snow-white back- 
ground of some of them. Others were decorated 
with holly and trimmed with bows of red ribbon at 
the top. 

130. Vase. — The children may bring to school 
pickle, olive, salad dressing, mustard, and all kinds of 
glass bottles and jars that have been emptied and 
cleansed (the more attractive the shapes the better). 
These then are enameled a solid color and orna- 
mented with designs. They make effective vases 
for flowers. They may be rolled in sand when the 
paint is still damp, to give a different finish. 

131. Waste Basket. — There are many practical 
waste baskets that kindergarten-primary children 
can make for home and school. A very successful 



98 PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 

one is made of cardboard with a bottom 6 inches 
square. The four sides are 15 inches high, 6 inches 
wide at the bottom, and 10 inches wide at the top. 
These sidepieces are tied together at the corners and 
along the edges and attached to the bottom with 
fancy colored ribbon or strong yarn. The basket 
may then be decorated with paints or crayons. 



CHAPTER V 

Handwork or Art Value 

What is the purpose of art study in the public 
school? Is its purpose to train the child to be an 
artist, or to enable the child to make more harmo- 
nious choices and to beautify his environment ? If 
we agree to the former, then we are right in present- 
ing color and form in abstract appHcations to 
be matched, harmonized, or arranged, as the case may 
be. But if we beheve in the latter, then only in so 
far as the abstract actually functions in the child's life 
is it of instructional value. ''The important question, 
however, is what specific subject matter is so con- 
nected with the growth of the child's existing concrete 
capabiHties as to give it a moving force." (Dewey.) 

Art appKed is valuable, but art theory is no part 
of elementary pubhc school training. The primary 
pupil's only obhgation in relation to real art is to be 
exposed to it, to be saturated with it, to be purified 
by it ; he cannot be expected to express it. 

What then is the purpose of elementary public 
school art education? It is to bring gradually to 
the child's consciousness the value of harmonious 

99 



lOO 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



line and color in dress ; tasteful arrangement of 
flowers ; wise choice of pictures ; judicious choosing 
and placing of furniture ; intelHgent selection of wall 
paper, paints, and dyes ; proper setting of the table ; 
and so forth. 

And what is art in its application to the things 
children do at school ? Its aim is to permit the child 
to express his gradually developing appreciation of 
the beautiful, even though, in doing thus, he makes 
many things that are not beautiful to more ex- 
perienced eyes. 

As has been stated, 
the fine arts form the 
atmosphere of the 
kindergarten- 
primary school ; they 
should not be a part 
of its course of study. 
In observing the 
efforts on the part 
of primary pupils to 
decorate and make 
beautiful, we see a 
likeness to the art and 
ornamentation of 
primitive people. 
Each Indian was his own artist. He decorated his 
rugs, food vessels, baskets, walls, dresses, and some- 




Child Drawing at Easel with 
Crayon 



HANDWORK OF ART VALUE lOi 

times his own body, with designs which told the story 
of his ideals and aspirations. 

There appears to be a universal hunger in child- 
hood to represent through picture. This driving force 
we recognize to be more in the form of manipulation 
than problem, and so we are prepared to meet and 
feed it through the following channels : by black- 
board drawing, and by the use of easels equipped 
with large drawing boards where large colored cray- 
ons and chalk and large sheets of wrapping paper 
are used. This latter suggestion gives play with 
color and forestalls the necessity of taking home the 
countless picture-manipulations drawn on individual 
sheets. The easel drawing satisfies this readiness, 
at the same time permitting the drawings to remain 
in the teacher's possession as record material, thus 
preventing what teachers are reluctant to admit but 
know to be common ; namely, the adornment by the 
children, on their walk home from school, of gutter 
and pavement with their drawings. 



CHAPTER VI 

Supplies and Accommodations 

In the kindergarten-primary unit, where pur- 
poseful handwork is to be carried out in self-organ- 
ized groups, the initial equipping should be in whole- 
sale quantities. Buy bolts of wrapping paper of 
different size and weight, large jars of glue and paste, 
pots of dye and paint, a bolt of stiff lawn, a keg of 
nails, a load of soft wood, etc. 

Much of the following material will come as 
voluntary contribution from the children's homes : 

Berry baskets 

Bottles and jars 

Burlap 

Burnt matches 

Buttonmolds 

Buttons 

Cardboard boxes 

Cardboard food containers 

Clothespins 

Cloth, rags, scraps 

Coat hangers 

Collar buttons 



SUPPLIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS 103 

Cotton 

Dowel sticks 

Dyes 

Glue and paste 

Jute 

Laundry cardboard 

Meat skewers 

Milk-bottle tops 

Nails 

Newspapers 

Paints, stains, and enamels 

Paper bags 

Paper fasteners 

Paper plates 

Paraffin 

Pencils and crayons 

Pins and needles 

Ribbon rolls 

Rope 

Scissors 

Shellac 

Soap 

Spools 

String and thread 

Tin cans 

Tissue and crepe paper 

Tools 

Typewriter ribbon rolls 



I04 



PURPOSEFUL HANDWORK 



Wire in spools 
Wood 

Wrapping paper 
Cases that the metal pins for bookbinding come 
in can be obtained from a printing office. They make 
good railroad tracks. 

To accommodate and supplement the equipment 
for purposeful handwork in a satisfactory manner, 

the following have 
been found both de- 
sirable and neces- 
sary furnishings : 

Low shelves and 
lockers, and window 
seats with roller 
drawers and cup- 
boards under them. 
A sand box, 6 feet 
long, I foot deep, 
and 3 feet wide, and 
raised 6 inches off 
the floor on ball bearing casters. 

A table with a galvanized tray, 2 inches deep, for 
clay modeling. 

A number of omnibuses (supply boxes) on wheels, 
or substantial boxes on casters, for unfinished ma- 
terials, patterns, loose paper, etc. 

A lumber box with compartments and a tool chest. 




Supply Box on Casters 



SUPPLIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS 105 

A low manual training bench with two vises. 

Low easels equipped with drawing boards. 

Oilcloth aprons. 

A combination of burlap screen on one side and 
blackboard on the other. 

Rollers for bolts of wrapping paper. 

Crocks of different sizes for dyes, paints, paste, 
and clay. 

^'Utility" is the watchword of the twentieth 
century, and every branch of human effort must 
meet the test. . . , Little children are by nature 
efficient, for they are distinctly motor in their re- 
actions. They turn toward construction instinc- 
tively, and handwork in the schools has become 
the surest means of personal expression and power. 

Gesell. 



INDEX OF PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS 



Airplane, clothespin, i6; folded, 13; 

wooden, 13 
Apron, cloth, 79; constructed, 79 

Bag, knitting, 51 ; shopping, 51 

Balloon, paper-bag, 18 

Balls, 21; colored, 22; paper-bag, 18 

Basket, sewing, 59 

Beads, clay, 82 ; crayon, 81 ; paper, 81 

Bean bag, 19 

Bird, clay, 82 

Blow-out, 18 

Boat, motor, 22; sail, 24 

Boomerang, 22 

Bow, hair, 83 

Bow and arrow, coat-hanger, 21; wil- 
low, 21 

Bowl, bulb, 82 

Brace, book, 82 

Broom, hearth, 92 

Buggy, basket or box doll, 27 ; shoe- 
box doll, 27 

Butterflies, 22 

Candle, 86 

Candlestick and shade, 84 

Cap, 24 

Churn, 91 

Compass, 89 

Cot, 83 

Cradle, doll, 26 

Cup, 86 

Doiley, 91 

Doll, clothespin, 26 ; paper, 30 ; paper- 
bag, 30; rag, 32; spool, 59 
wooden, 28 ; wrapping-paper, 28 

Dress, 34 

Drum, 32 

Easter eggs, dyed, 32 
Egg, darning, 91 



Engine, 34 

Fan, 35 

Flag, signal, 58 
Flowerpot and plant, 91 
Frame, picture, 95 
Furniture, box, 39 



Game, ball-stand, 40 ; 

toss, 40 
Goggles, aviation, 41 



giant, 41 ; ring- 



Handkerchief, 92 

Hanger, coat, 89 

Hat, 44; doll, 28; fireman's (I), 35; 
fireman's (II), 37 ; flower, 47 ; sailor, 
64 ; sailor tam o' shanter, 64 ; sol- 
dier, 64; soldier's overseas, 65 

Headband, Indian, 47 

Helmet, aviation, 16 

Horse, stick, 44 

House, doll, 33 

Jack-o'-lantern, 48 
Jumping jack, 48 

Kite, 50 

Leggings, soldier's, 71 
Lunch box, 94 
Luncheon set, oilcloth, 9/ 

Marbles, 51 
Mask, Hallowe'en, 44 
Mat, floor, 53 
Mitt, baseball, 19 

Needles, knitting, 51 

Pan holder, 94 
Paper doll set, 54 
Parachute, 18 



107 



io8 



INDEX 



Parasol, 54 
Pictures, motion, 53 
Pillow, 95 
Pincushion, 95 
Plates, paper, 96 
Pocket, letter, 96 
Popgun, 41 
Puzzle, 54 

Rack, tie, 97 
Rattle, 57 
Reins, horse, 47 
Ring, 57 ; napkin, 94 
Rope, jumping, 47 
Rug and loom, 57 
Ruler, folding, 96 

Scarecrow, 96 
Signal, railroad, 57 
Slingshot, 65 
Slippers, Japanese, 61 



Soldier, 61 
Spurs, 65 
Stick, bird, 82 
Sunbonnet, 64 
Swatter, fly, 92 

Tom-tom, Indian, 74 

Top, 74 

Toy, duck, 33 ; frog, 35 ; parrot, 54 

Train, 71 

Tray and scraper, crumb, 89 

Tree, 71 

Twirler, spectrum, 61 

Vase, 97 

Wagon, basket, 77 ; shoe-box circus 

(I), 24; shoe-box circus (II), 26 
Wastebasket, 97 
Watch, wrist, 77 
Wheelbarrow, 77 



